


Side Door

by Farbautidottir



Series: The Thomas William Affairs [2]
Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: Backstage, F/M, quick story, tom hiddleston - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 14:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4669592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farbautidottir/pseuds/Farbautidottir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short tale of Andrea's chance run-in with Tom after attending Hamlet at the Barbican. </p><p>O, what fate is this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Side Door

I stood with my group of friends outside the Barbican theatre after Hamlet so the girl in my group who came all the way from New South Wales to see Benedict Cumberbatch perform could wait and try to meet him. My husband and my friend's husband had excused themselves to wait for us at the pub we were headed to after. Finally Ben came out of the theatre’s side door and the surrounding throng swarmed.

I backed away from the crowd and looked away. In the far corner, away from everyone, right by another door into the theatre, I saw someone who looked like Tom Hiddleston. He was observing Ben and the throng. When he felt someone watching him, he turned and looked directly at me. I mouthed, "Tom?"

He gave a little nod and then I did a head motion for him to come over. He shook his head and hand motioned for me to come over there. Once I was close enough, he opened the theatre door and ushered me inside.

"Sorry, just not wanting to pull focus from Ben" he said once we were inside the backstage hallway.

"No worries." I said. "I just wanted to say hi really. I love your passion."

"Oh, thank you. And hello."

I laughed awkwardly and he ehehehe'd.

"So, were you at the show?" he asked.

"Yes, they did an excellent job. I didn't love some aspects, to be honest. How they did my favorite scene, for instance."

"Oh, which is that?"

"The part where he's hiding behind the tapestry."

"Ah. Yes. It's... a different look at that, admittedly. I'm okay with it, but, I can see where you'd want a more traditional approach."

"It was just too confusing." I said.

"Sorry, but do you feel okay?" he asked me after a moment. I realized I was holding my head.

"I have a migraine, actually." I said.

"Oh no. For the whole play?" he asked.

"The entire day, yes." I said with a quick smile. "Pushing through now. But this is a highlight. Right now, I mean."

"Is it okay if I touch your head?" he asked. "My sister has this technique that always works for my migraines."

"Sure, work your sisterly magic." I said.

He laced his fingers through the hair by my temples and started to scratch my scalp there lightly. It felt amazing.

"How is it?" he asked softly.

"It's incredible. I usually hate people touching my head. It usually makes my headache worse." I said.

"It's the scratching that does it. It's like a release of sorts, I find." he said.

We stood there in silence with his fingers working both sides of my head. I closed my eyes for a moment to block out the stimuli of the overhead lights. He smelled like sweat and hair gel.

"So you love my passion?" he asked. His voice was quiet, as not to disturb the stillness, but not intimate.

"Yes." I said, not opening my eyes. "It's inspiring."

"Good, that's nice to hear." he said.

"How did you like the production?" I asked.

"I love it. Ben's performance has really progressed over the weeks. It's been a lot of fun to watch."

"How many times have you gone?" I asked.

"I come once a week." he said. "I try to do weekdays so it's less crowded."

"Makes sense. Wednesdays are always the easiest for Broadway." I said.

"You're from New York?" he asked.

"Yes, I live there." I said.

"Oh, what part?" he asked.

"Long Island City."

"Oh, I did a shoot out there once."

"Yes, I'm about two blocks from a sound stage." I said.

"Maybe it was the one I was at. Maybe that's why I recognized you tonight." he said.

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"You could not have recognized me." I said.

"Why not?"

"You've never seen me before." I said.

"How do you know?" he said.

I smiled.

"How's the headache?" he asked me.

"If I say it's better will you move? Because I'm not sure I want that." I said.

Tom laughed.

"I hope it's better." he said.

His hands continued their work.

"It is. Tell your sister I'm impressed." I said.

He tucked some hair behind my ears and cupped my jaw and chin with both of his hands.

"I'll tell her." he said softly before leaning down to close the space between our mouths. The kiss was small, simple. He pulled away far enough to look me in the eye. I looked back at him and smiled out a laugh. He licked his bottom lip and then kissed me again.

I felt my hands moving around his waist. He was trim, more slender than I'd anticipated. At the slightest pressing of my palm, he moved his body closer to mine. The air was warm between us and I embraced him fully so I could feel his body against mine. His left hand fell from my face and wrapped around my rib cage, palming the center of my back just beneath my shoulder blades. His right hand readjusted as he cocked his head some to deepen our kiss. I ran my hands upwards, over his back muscles, easy to feel through his tight white button down shirt. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I gripped his sides while I reciprocated.

We heard the far door open and the female screaming became intensified. Tom pulled away from me immediately and I exhaled slowly, blinking as I adjusted to having my eyes open again after the kiss. I turned to see who had come in.

Ben was walking towards us, looking at Tom with a smile. His eyes flickered down to me and then back up to Tom.

"Hi," he said as he approached.

"Hey, go well?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, everyone was tame. This one girl came all the way from Australia. Can you believe that?" he said.

"Really?" Tom said.

"That's my friend." I said.

"Oh. Well, she was lovely." Ben said to me. "I'm Ben, by the way."

"Yes, I know who you are." I said with a laugh. "Great performance today."

"Thank you." he said. He looked at Tom somewhat expectantly, waiting for him to introduce me.

"Oh, sorry, this is..." Tom began.

I looked at him, waiting for the moment when he realized that he had not actually forgotten my name, but in fact never had learned it.

"And... there it is." I said with a laugh at his face change expression to utter panic.

I looked at Ben and held out my hand, "I'm Andrea. Nice to meet you."

He shook my hand and said, "Pleasure."

There was a long, awkward pause before Ben put a hand on Tom's outer shoulder and said, "I'll be just a second. I left my phone charger in my dressing room."

"Take your time." Tom said casually.

Ben nodded to me as he walked by us and when he was maybe fifteen feet away I could hear him laugh.

"I'm so sorry." Tom said to me. "That was... mortifying."

I laughed.

"It's okay. Migraines got in the way of formalities." I said.

"They always do." he said.

"I should... probably get back to my friends." I said.

"What are your plans?" he asked.

"Um... drinks, I think. It's still quite early, no?"

"Ten or so." he said.

"Okay, not as early as I thought." I said.

"Your friend came from Australia?" he asked.

"Yes, New South Wales."

"For Ben?" he asked.

"She's obsessed with him, yes. But, I mean, not just for Ben. Her best friend lives in Worcestershire."

"You pronounced that impressively well." he said.

"Practice." I said. "Anyway... were you establishing something or just asking about my friend?"

"Right, sorry, yes." he laughed. His attention went from me to the hallway behind me. Ben must be returning. "Let me run it by him first, is that okay?" he said to me.

"Sure, whatever." I said.

"Question for you, Benedict." Tom said more loudly.

"Yes, Thomas, what is it?" Ben replied in the same tone.

"Would you be interested in drinks with Andrea and her friends?" he asked.

"I am interested. The Australians right?" he said and looked at me.

"Yes and some others..." I said. "Five of us total."

"Sounds fun." Ben said.

"Okay, let's go." Tom said.

"Wait," I said. "Tom, I have to tell you something before we go back outside."

"She's married." Ben said.

Tom looked at him.

"I saw the ring." Ben said with a shrug.

"Thank you, Sherlock." Tom said. He looked at me for confirmation.

"Yup." I said.

"Okay," Tom said.

"And he's at the bar." I said.

"Oh. Okay." Tom said flatly.

"Yeah... sorry." I said. “You don’t have to come now, if you don’t want.”

"Oh bollocks! Tom doesn't care, I don't care. No one cares. We won't tell him. Let's go." Ben said.

"No one cares." Tom said in a distant voice. "No, I might care a little, but let's go anyway."

I gave him a little frown and said, "Sorry."

"Me too." he said.

Ben opened the exit door and we followed him outside.


End file.
